She looks interested.“We have many clients who’ve been with us for years.Decades even.”
“That’s right.You have clients who have been with you for over forty years, who now have daughters and granddaughters and great-granddaughters who continue to buy from this iconic fashion house.These people don’t need favorable pricing.They can afford ten Stella bags a year and they wouldn’t bat an eyelid.I have a feeling that Stella values stability over disruption, and they’re too scared to piss people off.I want to look into this, and so I want a clean data map of our customers, what they buy, how often they buy, and how long they’ve been with us.To start with, I want to see where pricing can be restructured without mass fallout.”
“You’ll want historical segmentation, not just spend, loyalty patterns, attrition risk.”
She’s right.Hell.She’s smart.
“I will.”I didn’t have to push her or explain.She already knows what’s needed.I knew she’d be the perfect person for this project.I wanted to give it to her from the get-go, and the way she’s already streets ahead, confirms that she’s a perfect fit for what I need.
A sharp click of heels cuts through the quiet and we both turn to find Katherine approaching us like thunder on the horizon.With her handbag clutched tight against her side, her eyes flick to me, then to Maya, before bouncing back to me again.
This woman is seriously pissed.
“Well, this is most …unexpected.”Her gaze lingers a fraction too long on the empty desks around us.“Am I interrupting another private meeting?”
The words hang in the air like a stench.
Maya straightens almost instantly.“Good morning, Katherine.”
Her boss doesn’t return the greeting.Instead, her attention is on me.“I wasn’t aware that we were hosting private strategy meetings before office hours.”
She’s suspicious, and vicious.A deadly combination.My instinct is to immediately guard Maya.“I came in early,” I say evenly.“I didn’t think anyone would be here.”
“I was already here,” Maya pipes up.“I-I need to leave early today, if … if that’s okay?I’ll make my hours up.”She waits for Katherine’s permission.“Something urgent came up.”
“You need to leave early?”Katherine asks, voicing her suspicion.A pregnant pause ensues, in which a lesser person would feel obligated to talk and give up their reason.Maya holds firm.
“If that’s okay,” she says, refusing to provide any information.And now she has me wondering whether she has an interview later.
“As long as you get everything done that I’ve asked of you.”Katherine heads for her office, her heels clicking like a warning shot.
Maya lets out a slow breath.But I have questions, and fears.“Everything okay?”I ask.
“All good.”She’s always so guarded with me, but that’s okay.Nothing that can’t be changed, over time.I push off her desk to standing.“I-uh … I need your help.”
She blinks as if this was the last thing she was expecting me to say.“You needmyhelp?”
“I do.Come and see me before you leave today, please.”
***
MAYA
Butterflies riot in my stomach the second I set eyes on Zach.
He’s sitting behind the desk, jacket off, sleeves rolled, completely absorbed in whatever he’s scribbling down.I pause for a moment, transfixed.The set of his shoulders.The concentration etched into his face.He looks devastatingly handsome like this, unaware and unguarded.Then his gaze lifts and catches mine.He’s caught me red-handed.Heat floods my cheeks and I move forward, flustered and painfully aware that I’m about to go into a meeting with him.Just me and him, door closed, uncomfortable yet strangely… nice.
I walk into the windowed office, instantly on edge.If only he’d moved to the executive office upstairs.Out of sight and out of mind.I could focus better.Now, I feel the weight of guilt as I walk in, knowing that everyone can see us.I glance around at the open plan office.No one’s looking.But still I feel guilty.Every time Zach and I are in a room together I feel an undercurrent that tries to pull me back into the days on the Knight Estate, when our feelings for one were intense.
“What I was talking about this morning, the client profitability audit, I’d like you to do it.”Zach dives straight into it, not even giving me a chance to breathe.My thoughts scatter and it takes me a few seconds to process his words.
He wants me to do this audit?I’m suspicious again.“Why me?”
“I don’t trust anyone else here, that’s my reason, and for you, well, you get visibility.”
That’s how he’s framing it?Like he’s doing me a favor?Sounds to me like he’s doing everything in his power to get me alone with him.From having dinner at that fancy restaurant, to him now taking up residence at my place of work, how obvious can he be?“What’s in it for you?”
He gives me a curious look.No hint of a mischievous smile.“A competent person putting together a great report.”
